My Dog
(photographs taken at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro)
Live Art: Command Performance
Flecks, streaks and arcs dart across a blank mat board as artist Marcelle Harwell Pachnowski paints among a backdrop of spectators and a rumbling band. Crouch. Head tilt. Lean. A live performance emerges as the artist's bold colors flash across the surface of the large-scale piece....culminating in a rendering, worthy of a bow.
(photographs taken at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro)
Pour Out Soul
“Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level. And that’s never going to get lost.”
Rhonda Robichaux's (above) striking voice, rich in soul, charges across a crowded lawn at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. She and her band perform again in Carrboro on Independence Day.
(photographs taken at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro)
Train of Thought
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
(photograph of Southern Rail located at 201-C East Main Street, the corner of Main and Weaver streets in Carrboro)
Carrboro: As Patient as a Child in a Sweetshop
“Innocence is one of the most exciting things in the world.”
(photograph taken at Weaver Street Market at Carr Mill Mall in Carrboro)
Carrboro: Empty Bowls, Full Bellies
Choose a deep one with a protruding green rim. Or perhaps a cobalt blue offset by cerulean insides. If you're adventurous, opt for the one with scalloped stripes and peppered polka dots.
Local handmade pottery was the centerpiece in TABLE's Second Annual Empty Bowls fundraiser Sunday which was hosted by its neighbor, Provence restaurant in Carrboro. A $30 ticket bought you a one-of-a-kind bowl and steaming soup while supporting the organization's emergency food aid programs for hungry children in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. The event poured over onto TABLE's front lawn which doubled as an outdoor dining space with live porch music.
(photographs taken on Weaver Street in Carrboro)
Carrboro: On the Fence
Once used to keep protesters out, this chain link fence has become a canvas for demonstration and revolving artwork in Carrboro. It too has turned into an allegory for local concern. The steel wire netting was erected when protesters stormed the building in 2012 to oppose potential corporatization of the property after developers applied to build a CVS on the site. The building previously housed WCOM 103.5 FM community radio which now broadcasts from the front end of the Art Center.
(photographs taken on the corner of Weaver and Greensboro streets in Carrboro)
Moments: 17th Annual Carrboro Music Festival
Carrboro was riddled with people this weekend strolling from the wonted to the curious of concert venues -- gravel parking lots, plaza passageways, wooden porches, even beneath tree shadows musicians played to crowds. The 17th Annual Carrboro Music Festival lured thousands for more than 180 free live performances running the gamut from those in grunge gear to the understated folk singer. Here are some festival moments...
(photographs taken at the 17th Annual Carrboro Music Festival in Carrboro)
Carrboro: Out of this "Whirld"
Once gleaming, its copper portal has started to oxidize and its silver peak has faded. But at 12 feet tall, weighing in at about 500 pounds, it stands anchored on a Weaver Street corner lawn. The padlock on the handle adds to its allure. Those with a xenoarchaeological bent might do a double-take. But despite its cylindrical shape and looming size, this is no spacecraft or playground as young'uns might eagerly yearn. This interactive art installation is a metal spinning camera obscura -- one of photography's ancestors. Created by Josh Lev in 2011, "new Whirld" is intended to illustrate a person's environment from unexplored views, encouraging people to adopt new perspectives.
Folks enter the flue-shaped piece, close the door and behold a duplicate image of the outside world displayed on the inside wall of the steel structure. This occurs when sunlight enters the lens projecting a mirrored image inside the unlit room. Though reversed and upside down, the lens captures a clear image through the small hole, in both original proportion and hues. To heighten its effect, the interactive piece spins enabling folks to experience a 360-degree panoramic view of its surroundings.
Although unopened for hands-on use, it's on display in Carrboro. Detailed "how to use" instructions in a framed sign accompany the art installation.
(photographs taken on the corner of Weaver and Center streets in Carrboro)
On the Street: Magic Moment
“In the moment.”
(photograph taken on Main Street in Carrboro)
Little Bunny Foo Foo
The whimsical white bunnies anonymously sprang up on the wall alongside The Beehive in downtown Carrboro in 2013. While the salon has been host to graffiti in the past, this art appealed to the staff and has acted as the hair shop's beacon since. Somehow, the rabbit colony has managed to stick it out despite the gradually flaking decals.
(photograph taken between Main/Greensboro streets on Weaver Street in Carrboro)
"I Want Caffeine" Molly
At 17, Molly appears quite well-versed on the ukulele, the four-stringed instrument with a jaunty sound. Smaller than a guitar, the instrument is commonly associated with Hawaiian music. The name "ukulele" means "jumping fleas" (uku flea + lele jump) in Hawaiian likely because when strummed, the fingers mimic the movement of the jumping insects.
"It's like more of a high-pitch guitar. And it's weird like that. I sort of like that it's weird," Molly says.
Her song "I Want Caffeine" seems to resonate with the crowd clustered on the lawn listening to live music at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. Like good coffee, her personality seems to strike the delicate balance between bold and sweet notes. This particular song, she wrote herself.
"They sort of just slap me in the face," she says. "I mean they HAVE to slap me in the face."
And yes this musician is a coffee drinker of the ice mocha variety ... "but sometimes I get something weird like a latte."
(photographed on Weaver Street between Main & Greensboro streets)
Play on Words
Tricia, Barb & Jennie
The threesome meets Sundays at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro for late morning rounds of the word game Upwords. A bounty of people and live music as a backdrop, they remain focused on the blue board.
Jennie (wearing blue): "It's like Scrabble."
Tricia (wearing black): "No it's not like Scrabble."
Barb (wearing white): "Emotionally it's not like Scrabble. It's more creative. With a flick of a tile you can change a word."
Tricia: "I've learned to like to score... I don't like to finish too far behind them."
The point of the boardgame is to build words using letter tiles that can be stacked on top of other letters on the board to create new words. The taller the stack, the more points earned. The women (two live in Chatham County, one in Chapel Hill) say they look forward to to the game every week. "This is about our fourth time here," Barb says.
Tricia disagrees: "No, more like our fifth time." She pauses and adds: "I drive them nuts."
UpwordsTricia
(photograph taken on the lawn of Weaver Street Market off of Weaver & Greensboro)
Street Portrait: "In Provence" Alison
Server at the French/Mediterranean restaurant Provence in Carrboro. She has lived in the area for about ten years and at one time performed on local stages. "I abandoned theater for being a regular person." Alison rhapsodizes about working at the restaurant which from the street looks like a cozy home with an inviting garden bedecked with a purling fountain, stone ledge and a giant rooster. "We are like a hidden gem. It's a little oasis here."
Perhaps it's because she has perspective.
Prior to working at Provence she answered phones for the Town of Chapel Hill Public Works department (as in trash collection, pothole repair, etc. ). "I like serving here. People are real nice. At my old job, people just wanted to call in and yell at you."
(photographed at Provence restaurant on weaver Street in Carrboro)
Spotted
After I took this image, the dog began barking incessantly.
(photographed at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro)
"Sending Energy" Bruce
Bruce is often seen eyes closed whirling to music Sunday mornings at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro. He's been practicing meditation for 37 years and incorporates nuances of his practice into his dancing.
While we were talking a mother walked by with a crying child. He paused in mid conversation, bowed his head, and closed his eyes. When I asked if he was okay he said, "I'm sending energy to the kid."
(Bruce designed the headpiece in the image himself from a necklace he used to wear.)
(photographed in Carrboro on Weaver Street, Carr Mill Mall)